(Photo: USA TODAY Sports)
Aaron Rodgers is pointing to Sunday night's game vs. Green Bay. (Photo: Getty)
By Mark Eckel
Sunday night he's the enemy.
For 15 years as the starting quarterback and through 10 Pro Bowls, 475 touchdown passes, 158 wins, four MVP awards and a Super Bowl he was the hero.
Now Aaron Rodgers, who actually made some Packers fans forget Brett Favre, will be on the other sideline when the Green Bay Packers travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers on Sunday Night Football.
Personally, I was a Packers fan long before the soon to be 42-year-old Rodgers was even born. But I was also a Rodgers fan, and still am. Except for this Sunday night.
With all of that, here are my "12'' favorite Rodgers moments with the Packers.
12. 2010 NFC Championship Game: Rodgers did not have one of his better games in the 21-14 win over the Bears (he made up for it two weeks later). He did, however, make a play that may have saved the day. After getting picked off by Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher on the first possession of the second half, Rodgers made the tackle and saved what may have been a 94-yard touchdown return.
11. 2018 Season Opener: Rodgers left the field in the first half with what was feared to be a possible season-ending injury against the Bears. Chicago led 20-0 at the half before Rodgers miraculously came back and led the team to a 24-23 win.
10. 2016 Run the Table: The team was 4-6 and had lost its fourth straight game when Rodgers told the media, "I feel like we could run the table. I really do.'' The Packers beat the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football and won their final six regular-season games to finish 10-6 and win the NFC North. They would go all the way to the NFC Championship Game before a team decimated by injuries on both sides of the ball lost to Atlanta.
9. Hail Mary, Dec. 4, 2015: The Packers had lost four of five games after a 6-0 start to the season and were about to lose five of six. On the final play of the game, Rodgers threw a 61-yard Hail Mary that tight end Richard Rodgers came down with in the end zone to give Green Bay a 27-23 win.
8. Hail Mary X 2, 2015 Divisional Round: Down 20-13 and facing a 4th-and-20 from their 4-yard line with 55 seconds left in the fourth quarter, Rodgers found Jeff Janis for a 60-yard completion. After a motion penalty moved them back to the 41-yard line, Rodgers went back to Janis for a 41-yard TD on the final play of regulation. I said it then, and I'll say it 10 years later the Packers should have gone for two and the win. Arizona was reeling and still in shock at that point.
7. Sept. 26, 2021 37 Seconds: On Sunday Night Football in San Francisco, the Packers led 17-0 early and 24-14 in the fourth quarter. But the 49ers came back and took a 28-27 lead with 37 seconds to play. With no timeouts, Rodgers completed passes of 25 and 17 yards to Davante Adams and Mason Crosby kicked a 51-yard field goal for the 30-28 win.
6. 2010 NFC Wild Card Game: Rodgers first playoff win came against the Eagles (the Packers only playoff win against the Eagles) where he threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers in the 21-16 win.
5. Dec. 29, 2013: Rodgers missed seven games with a broken collarbone and the Packers were 7-7-1 with a game to play at Chicago. A win and they would win the division. Rodgers came back. But the Bears led 28-27 with 46 seconds left and Rodgers and the Packers faced 4th-and-8 from the Chicago 48. The quarterback connected with Randall Cobb for a 48-yard touchdown and the Packers for the third of what would be four straight years won the division.
4. 2010 NFC Division Round at Atlanta: Facing the top seed Falcons just six days after beating the Eagles in the wild-card round, Rodgers threw for three touchdowns, ran for another and completed 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards in the 48-21 rout.
3. 2016 NFC Division Round at Dallas: The Packers led 28-13 after three quarters. The Cowboys, at home, fought back and tied the score, 31-31, with 35 seconds left. On 3rd-and-20 from his own 32-yard line and 12 seconds left, Rodgers threw what might have been his best pass as a Packer. He hit tight end Jared Cook who managed to keep both feet inbounds at the Dallas 32. Mason Crosby then hit a 51-yard field to win the game, 34-31.
2. Super Bowl XLV: Game MVP Rodgers threw for 304 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-25 win over Pittsburgh. The 29-yard TD pass to Jordy Nelson to open the scoring was probably his best throw of the game.
1 Kneeldown: When the final Pittsburgh drive stalled, Rodgers and the Packers offense came back on the field. The QB took a knee and it meant Green Bay was Super Bowl champions for the fourth time and NFL champions for the 13th time.